Category: Natural Resources and Environment

(MDNRE) is hosting a workshop November 22 focused on yet another threat to the ecology of the Great Lakes: The introduction and invasion of Asian carp.
Michigan’s vast water resources are at great risk from invasion by nonindigenous species of plants and animals. The most recent threat is the Asian carp. Michigan’s greatest natural asset, one of its clearly defining characteristics, is its abundant water resources – 3,300 miles of shoreline on four of the five Great Lakes, 35,000 miles of navigable streams, more than 11,000 inland lakes, and thousands of square miles of wetlands. With their invasion of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, Asian carp have disrupted food webs, spoiled tourism and recreational experiences, created public health hazards and wreaked havoc for water-based businesses. The Asian carp have the potential to cause significant economic and ecological harm to the Great Lakes.
The MDNRE, Office of the Great Lakes (OGL) hosts a workshop on Monday, November 22, 2010, at the Michigan State University Union in East Lansing to discuss actions being taken at the federal, regional, and state level to prevent the Asian carp from creating a sustainable population in the Great Lakes and control their spread within the Great Lakes basin. Featured speaker, Mr. John Goss, is the newly appointed Asian Carp Director in the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Other presentations will address new studies on ecological separation, environmental DNA monitoring, and the DNRE’s proposed strategy to address the Asian carp threat to Michigan waters.
This workshop is for resource managers, affected industry, researchers and others interested in addressing the threat of Asian carp dispersing, or being introduced, into Michigan waters.